Oh baby! Have we got a lot to share about dogs and babies. This blog is written by Certified Professional Dog Trainer Jenn Merritt and her dog Royal. Jenn specializes in helping expectant pet parents and pet parents with new babies adapt to life with their dogs. Royal specializes in squirrel investigation, attempted motorcycle herding, and sleeping belly up.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Jet Gets Spayed the OVE Way

Jenn has been waiting and waiting to get our little Jet spayed. Spaying a female dog is a surgery that removes their reproductive organs. There are many differing opinions about when the best time is to get a dog spayed. Jenn read as much as she could and decided to wait until Jet had reached a level of "maturity" and gone through at least one heat cycle, so her body could get all the hormonal benefits including bone, brain and organ development. Little did we know that we would be waiting almost three years.

Has Jet reached a level of maturity? The jury is still out on that one. But she did have a heat cycle in May, so Jenn felt that it was a good time to have Jet spayed.

There are two types of spays, OVH-which is a complete hysterectomy and OVE-which is only removal of the dog's ovaries. Jenn had read several articles by veterinarian Dr. Nancy Kay, about the advantages of the OVE spay:A Newer Way To Spay by Dr. Nancy Kay

Basically, the advantages of the OVE, ovary only spay, are it is a shorter, less invasive surgery with less time under sedation, it is overall less traumatic to the body, which can translate to less pain and a faster recovery time. Jenn's vet Dr. Brady had done the OVE and said it was a good option for Jet.

Jet had to spend the night at Dr. Brady's clinic and came home the next day looking like this:

Jenn started treating her immediately with the homeopathic remedies Arnica and Hypericum Perforatum for pain, inflammation, and to help clear the body of the aftereffects of sedation. Jet spent several days basically sleeping and resting, our house has never been so quiet.

Dr. Brady used a special surgical tape on Jet's incision, which kept Jet from trying to fiddle with it. Here's her small incision after one week, completely healed.

So Jet didn't have to wear the dreaded cone like I did when I got neutered:

I did not like that cone! So Jet pretty much had it easy all around. She was back to herself within a few days. We still had to keep her activity limited, no running around, only leash walks for 10 whole days. But overall, Jenn sees that the OVE, ovaries only spay, is a great option for pet owners.